"I know what you're hiding, you know," Peter Pettigrew said in a tone that was purposely detached. He had been lying on his bed in silence for about ten minutes, thinking how best to phrase it and deciding on blunt honesty.
Remus Lupin's quill stopped. His tone was casual, but Peter saw his shoulders tighten, and he still hadn't turned from his essay. "You do?"
"I do," he replied, standing up to check the door before closing it. "You're a werewolf, aren't you?"
Remus still didn't turn around, and the lack of emotion in his voice was almost frightening. "Do James and Sirius know?"
"I haven't told them. I'm not going to." That finally got him to look around, a confused look on his pale face. Peter continued. "But I'm not going to lie to them for you. I'll cover for you in front of other people, but Sirius has already started checking the days you've been gone against astronomy charts, and I think James has his suspicions."
Peter could actually see him absorbing what he'd said. Only one thing seemed to puzzle Remus. "Why aren't you telling everybody or trying to make my life hell? You aren't scared?"
"I was," Peter said quietly, sounding ashamed. "Then I saw you in here, finishing up that transfiguration essay, and I realised how stupid I was being. You're basically human, except sometimes."
Remus burst out laughing. "Basically human, except sometimes. You have a way with words, Peter, and I hope someday it'll give the world more than just the name Marauders."
Peter grinned. "It's nice to hear someone remembering who said marauder first. Sirius and James fight all the time about which one came up with it first."
"Yes, well, Sirius and James can be right little berks sometimes," said Remus, his smile fading away a bit. "Really, though, you don't mind that I'm..."
"Nah. As long as you don't try to kill us in our sleep, I don't care what you get up to at night," Peter told him, not quite smiling but close. "I'll handle the aconite and silver in potions from now on, and I'll help you as much as I can on full moons, but apart from that, nothing's changed."
Remus's smile was back and at full capacity. "Thank you so much. By the way, the silver thing's a myth. Pretty much anything dies if it's stabbed in the heart with a sharp instrument, silver or no."
"I'll probably forget that, but I'll try to remember," said Peter, and as Sirius Black and James Potter walked in arguing quietly about a girl in their year, he improvised. "I just can't keep track of all these goblin wars. There were so many of them, and none changed anything in history except population numbers."
Remus tried to stop grinning, but it was hard. "Just look through the chapter Binns assigned, and see what you can answer. I'm going to the library." When James andand Sirius weren't looking, he mouthed the words thank you, and Peter found that he wanted to keep lying for Remus.
The gratitude he earned was worth it.